Doctors in the autonomous city of Ceuta (Spain) are warning of a serious risk of outbreaks of scabies, tuberculosis, cholera, measles and infectious diarrhoea amid the mass arrival of migrants and the overloading of the healthcare system.
The president of the Official College of Physicians of Ceuta, Enrique Roviralta, has repeatedly stated that the authorities have effectively planted a “time bomb” (bomba de relojería) in the city. According to him, around 10,000 people are living on the streets, on beaches and in makeshift camps without proper sanitation, and their health and vaccination status is often unknown.
Local residents complain that they cannot take a walk or go to the beach without encountering human excrement everywhere. The situation is particularly critical on Trampolín beach and in other areas where migrants have congregated.
Roviralta and other doctors report that:
- numerous cases of scabies are already being recorded;
- cases of tuberculosis are emerging;
- diarrhoea with fever is being registered;
- there is a risk of outbreaks of cholera, measles, tetanus and intestinal infections (salmonella, shigella).
Ceuta’s healthcare system is operating at full capacity. In the emergency departments, 7 doctors are seeing 400–500 patients per day. Doctors are speaking of a “real catastrophe” and “wartime medicine”, calling for a field hospital to be set up, epidemiological control to be strengthened and reinforcements to be sent. They also criticise the Ministry of Health for its lack of an adequate response and contingency plans.
According to data from mid-August 2026, several thousand migrants remain in Ceuta (estimates range from 5,000 to 10,000), and the sanitation situation and the burden on hospitals remain extremely strained.
